End of the Year Wrap-Up

I enjoy graphs (I’m a nerd like that). I made 78 garments this year and used a variety of pattern companies. No surprise to me is that I used Jalie and Burda magazine more than any other company. I used zero McButtKwikOgues and instead tried a few new (to me) companies. I did branch out this year and make a lot more kid’s clothing. I tallied up 11 Jalie leotards. Eleven. That’s a lot of leotards. I have several stand out garments that I love and a few that I don’t. Overall, I think it’s been a good sewing year. Some highlights: I won the Pattern Review Sewing Bee contest (sqqqquuueeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!), I successfully completed my Burda Challenge, I made a lot more clothes for my runner-girls, and I have come a long way in construction (in my opinion). Good sewing year indeed.  

Burda Challenge (each picture is linked to the blog post about the garment):

Overall, I’m really happy with my garments this year. I plan to continue on with the Burda Challenge and make at least one thing out of the current Burda magazine.

Too Much Earl Grey

I suddenly have this thing for Earl Grey tea. I used to drink it in college. Yum. That citrus-y bergamot oil is like a drug for me. I should tell you that my mom's side of the family is very sensitive to drugs, especially caffeine. I drank full-strength Earl Grey in college but then wondered why I would sweat so much at -30 and why I had a hard time modulating my volume. "Hey Kate, WHAT CLASS do you have NEXT??!?!?" I realized, after a while, that I had the same issue my mom and her father have with caffeine. It works quickly and ferociously on us. I'll burn through all my caffeine in about 20 minutes and it will leave me cranky, sweaty, and irritated. I have the same issue with Novocaine, Sudafed, and Valium. When I go to the dentist, whole face is numb for several hours. Sudafed makes me feel like I'm floating 300 miles above my body and Valium hypes me up to the point where I'm almost screaming. Fun times for the doctor. But, where the hell was I going with this?? Oh yea, so I have been drinking DECAF Earl Grey tea for the last few nights. Even decaf seems to have enough zing to hype up. In that vein, I've decided to make four pencil skirts. I am using the same pattern I used before which is 09-2008-120. I realized, when I was doing my best of 2009 post, that I wear that skirt all the time. A pencil skirt doesn't take that much fabric and I had several small pieces that just needed to be used up. Tonight I cut them all out. Tomorrow, I'll interface and perhaps sew darts.

HOW DO YOU LIKE them apples?? Heee heee, it's not to the point where I'm yelling and sweating . . . yet.

Year in Review Part 1

So, how did you guys do for 2009? I sewed 95 garments in all this year. It sounds pretty impressive but you have to remember that about 11 of those items were underwear. I'm always impressed when I do these graphs at the end of the year. It always seems like I don't sew for my kids but I really do. I'm not such a bad mother after all. Well, at least they have underwear. I'm surprised there are not more skirts on the graph. I feel like I do a ton of skirts and not many tops but that is clearly not the case.

This should come as no surprise to those of you who read my blog. I love BWOF (or whatever the hell they are calling themselves now) and Jalie patterns. The lone Burda is an envelope pattern.

How did you guys fare for the year sewing wise?

Retail Therapy?

I've been bad this summer about staying on my sewing budget. I'm sure my husband noticed but he would never say anything about it. The limit is self-imposed. I haven't gone crazy or anything but I certainly haven't kept track of what I was spending. It's August, school is starting, and it's time to get back into a routine. That includes the budget routine. Even though it's mid-August, this is the first official expenditure. Why? Because I decided, that's why. I'm not going to try to find receipts and tally up my total for the first 18 days of the month. So, there ya go. I follow the rules when it's convenient, I guess.

I'm part of the Chanel Sew Along but don't, as of yet, have a Chanel pattern. I was glancing through PatternReview's catalog and saw this Kwik Sew jacket. I think it's very nice and Kwik Sew fits me well.

Then I saw this Burda pattern. I was unable to decide between them and so I bought both. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that. I want to try out both patterns and figure out the main differences. I haven't for sure picked out my boucle fabric but I do have some options.

Then, I saw this pattern. I've wanted to try it since it came out and now, it seems, I will.

I'll keep you posted. I'm cutting out the lining on the Vogue jacket. Man, that thing has become the monkey around my neck. I will finish. I will finish. I can't handle something not getting done.

JSterns -- The Tee -- 0041 -- Take Two

This one is soooooo much better than the first version. Remember the way too tight version? This is medium with measurements of b: 34" and h: 37". I'm more of a b:32"and h:36" kind of girl but I like the fit of this much better. This is buttery soft cotton jersey from the Fabrics and Notions coop. It has very little stretch.

No petite shoulder to bust tuck for me. It's weird but I swear I don't need that tuck anymore. I have a dress to show you too and I think I could have gone without the tuck. Look, I almost look busty.

I serged the hems on the sleeves and bottom.

The hems naturally roll which is the way I like it.

J. Sterns Tee #0041

Here's the J. Stern's Tee I made yesterday. It's a basic t-shirt with extra seaming details at the bust. It also has a long, curves hem at the bottom. It's about 10am here and the light isn't all that great. I mean, it's light but it's kind of blotchy because it is through the big birch trees in our yard.

I made this out of the remaining doubleknit I used on this BWOF pleated bodice dress. It's a pretty thick fabric and it wasn't a great match. It has the right amount of stretch according to the pattern envelope but it is just so thick. It's a bit tight as you can see in the photos. I made a small which is what I supposed to make according to the envelope. I may trace off the medium too. I did my typical petite 1/2" shortening between shoulders and bust. I don't think that I needed to. I think the bust seaming would look better down a 1/2" and the armhole is too tight. On a BWOF pattern, I make the armhole a bit smaller too and it's perfect. This is too snug.


Here are the swayback wrinkles. I always get these. I could put a CB seam in it but . . . well, it's just a t-shirt. You can tell it's a bit too small in the hips. I should have flared out a little bit.




See? Don't you think the seam would be better down a 1/2"? And I found that the bottom front was longer than the bodice. I stretched it to fit but that created some gathering in the top piece.



This is something that I will change if I make this again. See how long it is in the front? I'm not sure if it is supposed to be longer in the front than the back but it is. I will shorten it on the pink dotted line. Probably my swayback wrinkles are making the back a bit higher so the front looks longer. But, when I sit down, the front folds up because of my legs so it's too long anyway.

The bodice side seams.

I serged the bottom hem.

Another view of the bodice with those wrinkles. See the boat in the background? That's our ocean boat. We are headed to Homer for a week of halibut fishing.

I'll post a review later on PatternReview.com.

Nice Pear . . .

Well, I made another fruit. This one is the pear and I used the Chocolate Lollipop fabric from this post. I used pink variagated Maxi-Lock thread for the the veins on the leaves.

You don't tuft this one so there is no button on the bottom. You probably could but you would need a very loooong needle.

I made this one for Paulette. She said the last one was cute and she is the only reason I am taking that Couture Jacket class.

Non-Sewing Items (Stop now if you don't want to know . . .)
It's been really nice the past two days; in the 60s! I "lost" a twin yesterday. After looking in all the neighbors' backyards I came inside and there she was, passed out on the couch. She slept like that for two hours before I woke her up. My kids are not used to this heatwave. And no, I don't encourage them to eat dirt.


Also, I went to court today and the six month stalking order was granted by the court. The other party actually showed up and had a lawyer. Weird. They almost behaved themselves too. They only called me a bitch twice in court.

Burda 02-2009 #105 Shirtdress

Sheesh is 10 button a lot of work. I did not put a buttonhole or button on the collar. This fabric is pretty bulky and I didn't want to struggle with that. I still have the handsew the collar down on the inside but I couldn't wait to show you. I really like it. I decided against the pocket because I like the plainness. This is a black leather belt but, as designerdream said in my last post, I can totally see this with a narrow red belt. This pattern is quite snug in the hips and I'm glad I am using a stretchy fabric and that I gave myself a bit of extra seam allowance in that area. You can barely see the topstitching because this fabric is kind of spongy. The stitches just sink in.

 

You can see a bit of extra in the back but I think it is mostly due to the weight of the skirt pulling down on the bodice. This fabric has 4-way stretch quite a bit. I did do my normal 3/8" swayback adjustment.

Here's a little bit of a close-up so you can see the topstitching. I just need to handstitch the collar and snip the threads on the buttonholes. Full review coming tomorrow over at, my favorite place, PatternReview.com.

This is what my girls look like when they are done playing outside. They pass out on the couch to warm up. Aren't they cute?

Burda 02-2009 #127 Jacket

I'm glad I made a muslin of this jacket. This is a heavier weight home decor material. I wanted to mimic the actual fashion fabric. I will not be going forward with this jacket. It has too many fitting issues for me. And maybe that's part of the fit of the jacket. If it is, I'm not a big fan of it.

The jacket on. Because of the color, you may not be able to see the details. I highlighted them in the following pictures. Again, I think this isn't a great pick for me. The angle of the lines makes me look bigger on the bottom and narrower at the top. Not a pattern for my pear-shape.


Here are the major seam lines. Look at that shoulder seam. I graded down to a size 34 which is my normal BWOF size. I did my petite adjustment and that's it.


Here are the major problems. There are inches of folds above my bust and the shoulder seams are waaaay down off my shoulders.


The shoulder area, between the arms, looks okay but the waist and lower back . . .? Not so good. I do like the idea of the released pleats at the shoulders.

Oh well. At least I didn't use any good fabric on this.

Is it Friday Yet?

I thought I would give you guys a heads up about what I am currently working on. I don't usually have multiple projects going on at once. And, really, I don't have multiple projects going on. I just tend to trace several things at one time.

02/2009 #127, traced, muslin cut and half sewn. I love the simple styling on this jacket. I wanted to sew up a muslin because it looks really loose and big. I graded down to a 34 so we'll how it goes. They have you put the sleeve in flat so that's a little weird for a woven jacket.

02/2009 #108 - Boatneck top, traced. This should be an easy one to whip out when I feel a hankerin' for a quick knit top. I love boatneck tops.


This is 12/2008 #112, traced. This is the last installment of my F-ing Cold SWAP. I haven't really needed it because it's been pretty warm. Of course, I'll wait until it gets really cold and I need it before I start sewing on it.



12/2008 #118, traced. This is such a cute skirt. I loved the one Karen made and I'll steal borrow her idea of using a side seam instead.

That's all folks! Happy sewing! Hopefully I'll have a muslin to report tomorrow or Friday.